BuddyPress 1.6 is now available!

Version 1.6 is a major feature release for BuddyPress, introducing several hundred of bug fixes, dozens of enhancements, and several major, all-new features.

Whether you’ve never used BuddyPress before or are a longtime BP guru, you’re in for a treat. BuddyPress 1.6 is the most feature-rich, secure, stable, and fun-to-use version to date. Feature highlights include: new Activity Management screens and Akismet integration for activity items; fine-grained visibility levels for profile fields; drastically improved performance on activity, group, and member directories; complete integration with the WordPress Toolbar; canonical redirects for improved search engine performance – and the list goes on. For an exhaustive list of BuddyPress 1.6’s notable fixes and features, check out the BuddyPress Codex 1.6 features and fixes page.

We’ve given BuddyPress 1.6 the codename “Lucali”, after a well-known pizza place in Brooklyn. (A few years ago, several members of the BP team had a brush with fame at Lucali. Hoo boy…) The pies at Lucali are constructed with the utmost care, using only the finest ingredients. Sorta like this version of BP, we think!

We’ve worked hard to ensure that your upgrade to BP 1.6 will be completely smooth. If you do happen to experience experience issues with your BP 1.6 installation or upgrade, the BuddyPress community has assembled a collection of resources for you. In addition to the fixes and features page, you’ll find numerous resources on the Codex home page. The buddypress.org support and discussion forums are another important stop, where you can read, ask, and answer questions about 1.6 and about BuddyPress in general. And if you’re a developer, and you’ve found a bug or have ideas for how to improve BuddyPress, visit out development hub at http://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org.

There’s often a line outside Lucali, and you could easily wait hours to get a pizza. But the wait for BuddyPress 1.6 “Lucali” is over. Download it today from the wordpress.org plugin repository, or from your WordPress Dashboard. Buon appetito!